Lance Armstrong leads Dave Wiens up the brutal Powerline climb. The two have about 70 miles under their belt here, not even three-quarters done with the Leadville Trail 100. They raced tire-to-tire for almost the whole race. The next racer is 30 minutes back. It’s either of theirs to lose. Wiens pulled ahead atop the climb, but Armstrong caught him at Hagerman Pass Road and the two raced on pavement down to Turquoise Lake and back up to the St. Kevins climb. That’s where LA surrendered and Wiens took ‘er home for his sixth consecutive title and yet another course record: 6:45:45. Armstrong finished second at 6:47:41. Manny Prado, of Costa Rica, took third at 7:20:53 and Crested Butte ski patroller Ethan Passant took fourth at 7:28:00. Passant, by the way, just last week won the 530-mile, fully self-supported Colorado Trail Race with a new record: 5 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Leadville Trail racers = hard.